Antitumor Potential and other Emerging Medicinal Properties of Natural Compounds

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

   PDF

2. Lectins: From Biological Recognition Molecules to Variable Medicinal Applications

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Lectins: Personal Comments of Nathan Sharon Taken from his Memoirs (Translation from Hebrew)

      • Jeremiah Silbert

      Pages 3-11

   3. The History of Lectinology

      • Hans-Joachim Gabius

      Pages 13-20

   4. Animal and Human Lectins

      • Hans-Joachim Gabius

      Pages 21-32

   5. Lectins of Marine Origin and Their Clinical Applications

      • Yasuharu Watanabe, Takako Naganuma, Tomohisa Ogawa, Koji Muramoto

      Pages 33-54

   6. Medicinal Applications of Plant Lectins

      • Clara Shui Fern Bah, Evandro Fei Fang, Tzi Bun Ng

      Pages 55-74

3. Structural and Functional Insights into Medicinal Ribonucleases

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75

      PDF

   2. Plant Nucleases from Nuclease I Family: Their Properties and Antitumor Potential

      • Tomas Podzimek

      Pages 77-91

   3. Bovine Seminal Ribonuclease and Its Special Features: When Two is Better Than One

      • Delia Picone, Antonello Merlino, Roberta Spadaccini

      Pages 93-113

4. The Perspectives for Ribosome Inactivating Proteins: Unveiling the Working Mechanisms and Potential Medicinal Benefits

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 115-115

      PDF

   2. The Discovery of MAP30 and Elucidation of its Medicinal Activities

      • Sylvia Lee-Huang, Philip Lin Huang, Paul Lee Huang

      Pages 117-126

   3. Ribosome Inactivating Proteins from Plants: Biological Properties and their Use in Experimental Therapy

      • Lucía Citores, Rosario Iglesias, José Miguel Ferreras

      Pages 127-143

   4. Current Status and Biomedical Applications of Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins

      • Riccardo Vago, Rodolfo Ippoliti, Maria Serena Fabbrini

      Pages 145-179

5. The Research History of Protease Inhibitors and Their Health Implications

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 181-181

      PDF

   2. The Health Benefits of the Bowman-Birk Inhibitor

      • Ann R. Kennedy

      Pages 183-186

   3. Peptidic Inhibitors of Serine Proteinases of Plant Origin

      • Krzysztof Rolka, Adam Lesner, Anna Łęgowska, Magdalena Wysocka

      Pages 187-204

   4. Anti-Tumor Effect of Synthetic Serine Protease Inhibitor

      • Kenei Furukawa, Tadashi Uwagawa, Katsuhiko Yanaga

      Pages 205-212

   5. A Landscape of the Health Benefits of Different Natural Protease Inhibitors

      • Ho Him Leung, Evandro Fei Fang, Tzi Bun Ng

      Pages 213-224

6. Plethora of Health Benefits from Small Molecules: From Bench-Top to Clinical Settings

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 225-225

      PDF

The modern unhealthy diet and lifestyle in conjunction with pathogens, environmental carcinogens and multiple other risk factors increase humans’ susceptibility to different diseases exemplified by elevated levels of cancers, cardiovascular and communicable diseases. Screening of potential drugs from medicinal plants and animals provides a promising strategy for the alleviation of the impact of these diseases. Components with potential medicinal applications include RIPs, RNases, lectins, protease inhibitors and numerous small compounds. These compounds have shown both preventive and therapeutic effects for humans. This book is a compilation of articles written by internationally renowned experts exploring the different uses of medicinal compounds in human therapeutics. Here we provide a comprehensive outlook on both qualitative and quantitative studies focusing on medicinal plants and animals, and establishing a link between laboratory research discovery and clinical applications.

• Autophagy
• Medicinal plants
• cancer therapy
• protein purification
• traditional Chinese Medicine
• Apoptosis

• , Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore, USA

  Evandro Fei Fang

• , School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

  Tzi Bun Ng

Policies and ethics